Cleesha
The Cleesha is a medium-sized Terran mining frigate. She is famous as the former flagship of Etoile Mining and Minerals and the ultimate plaything of Frank Croskey. She played a vital role in the Ra-Shi War and later conflicts. Her captain, Frank, was replaced in early June, 3020 by Saau Na' Chutym. On November 8, 3020, Frank resumed his duties as captain. The ship was decommissioned on April 14th, 3021. History The early years Construction of the Cleesha was completed on July 8, 2975, in an orbital shipyard owned by the Wanesta Redlaun Linowood megacorporation of Earth. It was used for WaReLi's mining division for fifteen years until it was decommissioned in 2990 in favor of newer models. A year later, Frank took a liking to the ship and bought it after haggling the dealer almost to the point of inducing insanity. Ra-Shi War The Cleesha took part in several battles in the Ra-Shi War, including the climactic faux-final battle with Starcrusher. It was heavily damaged repeatedly but pulled through each and every time. Leigun War The Cleesha saw less action during the Leigun War, but it was action regardless. She participated in a few battles, most notably the final battle with Dr. Zxoll that ultimately ended the war. Final flight For her final voyage, Frank decided to visit Zamoes, a mineral-rich planet and the hottest in the Zamoes system. The mission ended up as a mess; multiple explosions rocked the ship shortly after arriving in the system, ripping a big hole below the portside hangar door and ravaging the Ore Section entryway, Capacitor 2, and the Central Drive Block. Many crewmembers were killed instantly. The rest of the crew found themselves tumbling along a collision course with the system's sun, a very hot O-class giant star called Zamoes Prime. In addition, all the controls were locked due to software sabotage. Major fires were present in the portside bow crew's quarters, Capacitor 2, and the Central Drive Block. All of the fires were eventually extinguished, but so was the life of crewmember Kijas Zakowo, lead mineralogist. He had been stabbed repeatedly in the crew quarters area of the ship while everyone else was tending to the fires in the reactor section, and the culprit was thought to be fellow crewmember, Lorinada Hontbyn, who had apparently escaped using a modified mining drone. It was also assumed that Lorinada had caused the sabotage. Medics managed to get Kijas' heart beating again and stabilized him, though his health remained dangerously precarious. As the ship careened dangerously close to Zamoes Prime, Frank worked another miracle at the last minute, commanding all crew to start playing the laggiest games imaginable. The activity interfered with Lorinada's coding, allowing Frank to regain control and send the ship into jumpspace just long enough to go through the star to the other side before the jumpdrive gave out. Unfortunately, the star's gravity began to drag it back in, but the Great Fox arrived on the scene and used its gravity tethers to pull the Cleesha away. The tethers, however, proved to be too much strain for the hull, and many cracks began to form. With a badly damaged engine system and no other options apparent, much of the crew was evacuated to the Great Fox. Frank had other ideas, however. He had Rufus eject the jumpdrive behind them and fire torpedoes at it. The resulting explosion propelled the ship away and knocked the engine system back online, allowing them to head to a safe distance. The Cleesha was so badly damaged at that point that the remaining crew evacuated to the Great Fox. The Cleesha was dragged into orbit around a small planetoid in the same system, where it now sits. Layout and modifications Dimensions The ship is roughly 240 meters (787 feet) long, 45 meters (148 feet) wide, and 70 meters (230 feet) tall. Armaments Originally fitted with two bow-mounted WRL-56 PulseDrill apertures, Frank refitted the ship with three bow-mounted W&T Pro-Series BoreMore J82 Primers, converting a section of the forward lower levels of the ship to house the third. The three J82s have proven to be far more efficient and have led to greater profits. The ship also possesses twelve point-defense turrets located on various spots on the hull, also manufactured by Watkins & Tomosa LLC. Drones There are eighteen mining drones located within the underbelly of the ship. Powerhouse As with most starships in the galaxy, the Cleesha is powered by an exotic matter annihilation reactor. In this case, a very large one that can supply more than enough energy to power its shields, engines, mining lasers, and turrets at full-power all at once, though for a limited time. Propulsion For sub-luminal travel, the entire aft-end of the ship features a concave vertical double-strip ion drive thruster configuration, twice the size of the original WaReLi thruster and five times the output. The glow is very blue. For superluminal travel, the ship uses a powerful jumpdrive. Significant crew Under Frank Croskey The longest-serving original crewmember is the crotchety Head Engineer Odessa Yawnos. During the final six months of Frank's captaincy, he appointed Kijas Zakowo as the lead mineralogist, Lorinada Hontbyn as an assistant engineer and astrogation specialist, Rufus Zacks as an assistant engineer, Clas Fritz as a part-time medic, and Tinman as the bartender. Under Saau Na' Chutym Though the main crew remained the same under Saau's captaincy, she appointed a variety of new crewmembers to fill the ship's derelict ranks. Many of them served in janitorial and hazard-assessment positions due to her obsession with cleanliness and safety. This usually served as the primary bane of most of the crew. Under Odessa Yawnos Sometime in August, Odessa took over as captain after Saau was incarcerated by the crew for her extremism and apparent mental instability. She then escaped the ship during a Leigun attack, having been a Leigun imposter. The whereabouts of the real Saau are unknown. Category:Starships Category:Mining ships Category:Terran ships